NASA, NOAA Spared Further Cuts for Now

Last night, the U.S. Senate voted down the House of Representatives bill that would have sliced an additional 1.83 percent from discretionary spending accounts -- which includes NASA and NOAA.

The Senate did approve spending $8.1 billion in disaster relief, while rejecting the House measure that would have offset it with money taken from the discretionary accounts.

NASA's fiscal year 2012 budget will remain at $17.8 billion, still some $650 million less than the year before. NOAA remains at $4.9 billion for the year.

The fiscal year 2013 budget request from the Administration will be rolled out next February 6. It's likely that this budget will reflect the constricted fiscal environment -- and there will be more cuts to space endeavors.